‘प्रेम’ करो – ‘रब’ से, ‘सब’ से, ‘अपने आप’ से …’

Swamiji said…

” ‘एक ‘सच्चा संत’, एक आध्यात्मिक गुरू अपने शिष्यों को, अपने भक्तों को सौ मांओं का प्यार देते हैं।’ The pure, divine love that an enlightened, self realised ‘guru’ bears for His devotees is equivalent to the love of a hundred mothers…and love is all that ‘He’ expects from His devotees in return. One of the most wondrous gifts that God has blessed us with is ‘love’ ; an emotion as divine and beautiful as ‘He’ Himself is! ‘He’ loves each one of us, unconditionally; and it is this feeling of ‘love’ within us, which vividly expresses ‘His’ presence in us, that ‘He’ wants us to relate with; and ‘give’ to others in abundance, with generosity and in a large measure.”

” प्यार की भाषा तो हर कोई समझता है ! The language of love is universal, for the emotion of love is the easiest to convey. A smile, a kind act, a helping hand; all these gestures are small acts of love which bring happiness to all. Consider, on the contrary, how difficult it is to convey hate. It entails harbouring harsh thoughts, being violent. It is God’s and Nature’s wish that we all love one another.”

” Neither is the heart nor the ‘atman’ an arid desert which allows only dry, thorny cacti and bushes to exist on its hard, cracked surface; but rather both, the heart and ‘atman’ are akin to fertile lands on which flowers of ‘प्रेम’, ‘स्नेह’, love and affection can blossom, and , should be grown aplenty. And, when love is inherently present in us, why shouldn’t we shower it on God, others, and ourselves joyfully and happily? After all, we can give something to others, only when we have it in us, and, are in possession of it. So, the best is to ‘give’ and ‘share’ love with others as it makes us magnanimous and generous; caring, compassionate and teaches us to rejoice in the act of doing something selflessly for the good of others.”

“A life devoid of this warm feeling of love would be worthless and colourless. Love that suffuses us, exhilarates us and brings a look of utter joy on our face, on receiving love from our family members; pure happiness in our eyes while giving love to our friends, and , experiencing soul-stirring bliss while expressing divine love for God or ‘Guru’. Love is perennial. It increases exponentially as we spread it among others.The more one gives and spreads it, the more one receives and benefits by doing so.”

” Intense and deep devotion…‘Bhakti’ is nothing but love for the Supreme Soul, the परमात्मा | We must strive to cultivate this love in our hearts for God and express our adoration and affection for ‘Him’ while worshipping Him. It is only when we love God that we also truly begin to appreciate His creation; the world around us. Do we truly understand what it is that God would like to receive from us? ‘He’ is certainly not looking for donations and expensive offerings from us, which at times, we offer to Him in the form of a bribe for answering our prayers. All that our Master, our Sustainer and Nourisher needs from us is pure love and devotion…’Aur ‘Ishwar’ se apaar prem karne mein jo anand milta hai, uss mein divyata hoti hai !’ When love for God lights up our body, mind and soul, we are energised to endlessly keep repeating ‘His’ name and singing ‘His’ glory. Can we forget the unwavering love that a young child like ‘Prahlad’ bore in his being for Lord Vishnu ? We are here because of ‘His’ will alone, as ‘He’ infused life into us, as and when, He wanted to! Isn’t this a good enough reason to love ‘Him’, thank ‘Him’…’शुक्रिया अदा करने के लिए, हमें मनुश्य योनि में जन्म देने के लिए’ and to make the most of every moment of this lifetime and finally exit this world with gratitude and love for Him, as the spark of life in us, too, will be extinguished by Him at ‘His’ will.”

“Once, we succeed in realising God’s presence in us, we understand that the same light of divinity is inherently present in others too, and , accept them and love them for what they are as … ‘हम सब उस नीली छत्रीवाले के ही बच्चे हैं!’ Colour, class, religion or race should not be allowed an inch to blur our already clouded vision which could bring an abrupt end to our emotions of love for others. Rather, differences that exist between us, should be embraced without any hesitation. Unfortunately, at times, the love that we had for our elders and parents, when they were younger, begins to recede as they age and become dependent on us. We should draw strength from the rare and exemplary love that ‘Shravan Kumar’ nurtured for his visually impaired parents till the last breath of his life…loving, serving and respecting them till he met his fateful end ; and emulate the love that he always had for his parents.”

” Does not a painter seek appreciation for his work, his paintings? Does not a singer seek appreciation for his songs?
Similarly, would God who created this world not want us to appreciate it? Would ‘He’ not want us to be kind to the world we live in? We are all but guests in this world. And just like a lodge’s owner likes only well behaved guests, so does God like those who spread love in this world that has been lovingly created by Him.”

” And finally us! When God loves us, accepts us the way we are, with our shortcomings and imperfections, why do we not love ourselves! While it is important to be self-critical and seek personal improvement; we must not lose the knack for appreciating ourselves. It is said that God made us in his own image. We are all God’s children. But, then, we often question – How is it possible that we are not as gifted and capable as we desire to be? We must learn to have a positive opinion of ourselves, but, not be blind to our weaknesses, at the same time. What we call flaws in us are certain abilities and strengths that God believed were not needed by us for our journey in a particular lifetime. It is our duty to embrace, unquestioningly, all that God has endowed us with. It is only by loving ourselves that we will learn to understand our strengths and move forward in life.”